History

Politics

The council is currently under Conservative control, as it has been for the majority of its existence, with the exception of two periods of no overall control. The council consists of 47 councillors, elected from 27 wards. After the most recent full council elections held on 7 May 2015, the composition of the council is as follows:

Composition

The district is entirely parished, and is made up of 65 civil parishes. At the time of the 2001 census, the district had an area of 546 square kilometres (211 sq mi), with a population of 118,513 in 50,009 households.[3]